Aftermath
by Lady Nightshade
Summary: The participants of Mission City must come to terms with the aftermath of what happened. For Sam and Meri the aftermath is far more life changing then they would have liked.


Author's Notes: Okay there will probably be about two stories that take place before this one. I just wanted to get this one out of the way while it was in my head. I'm not entirely sure I like how it flows though. No Drift in this one but I hope to get some more Drift/Meri stories out soon.

Mission City had been over hours ago. And it was currently pushing three in the morning. Everyone who had taken part in it had been dragged in for a debriefing. Mainly being told what they could tell people, "I saw the Hoover Damn" vs what they couldn't tell people, which was basically everything else. While the government decided what to do with them.

The Autobots had already flat out refused to have anything to do with Sector Seven. So Keller came up with the idea to allow the military team and autobots to create their own department, NEST. He also had orders from the president to see Sector Seven disbanded. NEST's job was to seek out any arriving cybertrons and decide if they were friend or foe. If they were friends they would begin the process of assimilation. Should they be foe they would be destroyed.

Maggie and Glen were offered a job with NEST as well. They both accepted. Though Maggie insisted that the team she worked with at the start of her assignment be brought on with her. It didn't take long for the small group of geniuses to begin plans for what they could do with the new IT budget they were possibly going to be given. The idea of new tech toys giving them a buzz ten times stronger than the strongest caffeinated drink.

The three teenagers on the other hand had given in to the demands of the sandman two hours ago. They were oblivious to the louder and excited chatter that was happening with the techies in the opposite corner of the room as they slept on in bliss. Lennox was just coming into the room to check on the tech brigade's progress when the smell of burning flesh began to fill the air.

Less than a second later Sam and Meri shot up and started screaming as their skins started to turn a dark red and symbols started to appear on their skin. The men who had lead the military fight in Mission City surged into the room and leapt into action. They converged on the screaming teens and grabbed the failing limbs carrying them through the building.

"Simmons!" Lennox shouted. "Where are the showers?"

"Showers?" asked the Sector Seven male as he blinked at the chaos that was transpiring before snapping back into reality. "Right! This way."

Simmons and Banachek lead the way through the building to the dorm showers. The skin of the teenagers felt like their skin would start to melt off any minute as the men carried them through the halls and up the flights of stairs. Simmons and Banacheck held up the doors to the showers as Mikaela, Maggie and Glen ran ahead and turned the cold water on full blast. The teens were placed beneath the spraying water. More shower heads were turned on and pointed towards them to help control the internal fire that was burning the symbols onto their skin and dna. The screams calmed into painful whimpers and the smell of burning flesh decreased to a faint odor.

Several medical personal pushed their way into the rooms, their arms loaded with cooling blankets and ice packs. All of these items were arranged over the teenagers in order to help bring down their body temperatures while the medical personal checked their vitals.

The vitals were surprisingly stable, aside from body temperature. Finally both Sam and Meri fell back asleep. They would continue to sleep through the rest of the week and the week after. The medics checked back on them every two hours to make sure they were still stable. Pretty soon it became clear to them that their unusual patients weren't going to wake up anytime soon they attached feeding tubes and catheters to them. The medical personal would on occasion they tried to pull them from the water and ice the screams of pain would begin anew. Back under the spray of water and ice the teens would go.

Mikaela spent her time divided between her cousin and boyfriend. Occasionally some of the other members of the Mission City incident would join her and keep her company while the others would keep watch over the other one.

Meanwhile Ratchet and the medical personal worked together in an attempt to figure out what was wrong with them. The blood samples they took were for the most part normal. The only unusual thing was that the DNA seemed to be altered in a way no one could explain. Not even Ratchet. According to him this wasn't even supposed to happen. And it left them all worried.

When the teens woke up what would they wake up too. Optimus Prime, Keller, and Lennox all put their foot down on using the kids for experimentation. They had gone through enough and the autobots would be on hand to keep on an eye on things. Ratchet would be the one to do the main bit of monitoring once they woke up. Outside from the occasional visit to the military for blood work. Sector Seven was not allowed anywhere near them. In fact, Keller had said, Sector Seven was to be disbanded at once.

Ten days after Mission City Sam and Meri finally woke up. The smell of burning flesh still clung to them slightly but it would fade. They symbols on their skin were clear now. And they were the same ones that had been found on the all spark. Clothing helped to cover some of the scars, cover up helped a bit as well but not much. Plus it was hard to talk Sam into wearing any cover the wounds on his hands, neck, and face. Eventually holograms were created for them. Sam's was confined to a watch and Meri's to a pendant.

The holograms helped them to walk around in public without having worry about a wrong move or melting make up. Though the constant buzzing of electricity running along their skin set them on edge so they would remove them from time to time around the others. For Same and Meri the holograms running along their skin felt unnatural, especially at first, but eventually the feeling faded and they were able to push it from their minds.

Ratchet and Prime had already explained to them that the symbols would probably never fade and they didn't know what would happen in the long run in regards to their health. Nor what would happen if they touched someone else or even electronics. They also didn't know if the two of them touching electrical devices would have the same results that happened when the all spark came into contact with them.

Therefore it was decided that until they knew what the after affects of coming into contact with the all spark their contact with the outside world would be limited.

"What am I going to tell my parents?" asked Sam.

"We've already taken care of it." Assured Lennox. "But in the meantime I think it would be best if the three of you stayed out of sight until the tests were finished."

"Good thing spring break starts Monday," muttered Meri.

"What are we going to do if the tests last longer?" asked Sam. "The schools going to miss us. Well. The school will miss Mikaela. It won't miss me."

"Don't say that Sam." Smiled Mikaela. "You'll be missed too."

"If that happens we will deal with it." Promised Keller. "But in the meantime you guys are staying on the military base."

The three teens sigh and exchange a look. Mikaela can feel the guilt burning in her chest at not sharing the fate of her cousin and her maybe-sorta boyfriend. Sam started to wish he hadn't agreed to play keep away with a giant homicidal maniac. Meri wished she had been cursed with anything but this to mark her more of an outsider to her classmates.

"Nothing's going to be the same after this is it?" Meri whispered.

"No." sighed Lennox. "It's not. But we won't let any of you go through it alone. From here on out we are family bonded by blood and battle. From now on you'll never be alone."


End file.
